Ex-San Diegans finalists in Super Bowl ad contest

That's what a creative group of former San Diegans is hoping. Their 30-second Doritos chips commercial is one of five national contest finalists.

Chris Roberts, 27, a Point Loma Nazarene University graduate who co-produced the TV spot with Santana High grad Aaron Kaiser, says they spent $15,000 making three commercials for the contest in three days.

Last month they got word that one, “The Chase,” had made the final cut, beating out nearly 2,000 competitors, and winning a $25,000 prize.

Even if it doesn't, the filmmakers have a “reel” to add to their resumés, says Roberts, who visited San Diego this week from his Burbank studio.

The actors, Melissa Disney (the singing voice of Disney's “Snow White”), Braxton Honeycutt and Jeremy Searle (dubbed one of San Diego's most eligible bachelors in 2008), are all current or former San Diegans, as well.

The star, a white cat named Snowball, however, was a rescue kitten turned actress by a Los Angeles animal training center. As a youngster, she lost her hearing and nearly died of a lethal virus. Because she's deaf, though, she wasn't easily distracted during videotaping and completed in three hours the shoot about a cat that leads a young man on a Dorito bag chase.

Roberts says he won't know if his team won until the chosen ad airs during the first quarter of the Super Bowl, which they are attending as guests of Doritos.

“We had hoped the Chargers would be going with us,” Roberts sighed.

As good as the lottery

When Stacey Freiwald, 38, penned a couple of paragraphs on why she wanted to attend Barack Obama's inauguration and submitted her essay to the Presidential Inaugural Committee, she didn't even keep a copy.

The single mom from Coronado will need one for her scrapbook now, however. Freiwald got word this week that she is one of 10 essay contest winners nationwide to get an all-expenses-paid trip for two to Washington, D.C. She'll not only have a seat at the inauguration but sought-after tickets to several exclusive inaugural events as well.

“I had to go right out and buy a prom dress,” Freiwald said. She leaves today and is taking her sister, who lives in Los Angeles.

Obama on the big screen

UltraStar Cinemas is opening up one theater screen in six of its cinema complexes in San Diego County for seven hours of free ABC-TV inaugural coverage on Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Because seating is limited, reservations are required (
www.UltraStarMovies.com
). A special popcorn/drink combo will be sold but refills are on the house . . . or is that the Senate?

Quotes of Note

US Airways pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger is garnering kudos from his former Pacific Southwest Airlines colleagues in San Diego, where he was based the early 1980s.

“Sully was always a good stick . . . and he proved it Thursday” (when he safely splash-landed a US Airways jet in the Hudson River). “We PSA guys are very proud of him,” said Joe Graham, of La Jolla, a fellow PSA pilot.

Sullenberger's actions are being widely heralded. Respected IHS Jane's aviation analyst, Chris Yates, concluded that his “skill, determination and quick thinking contributed significantly to passengers surviving a crash landing that could have turned out so differently.”